Question

Led by samuel adams, the massachusetts legislature issued a letter declaring that the townshend acts were unconstitutional because they violated which principle?

Answer 1

The Townshend Acts were issued by Parliament. The acts were duties or taxes on many different items imported by America. The items that were taxed were lead, glass, paint, paper, and the infamous tea. Because of America's resistance to being ruled by an outside party, there was a lot of pushback and eventually, Parliament withdrew all taxes from this Act, except for the tax on tea. All of these taxes enacted by Parliament were considered unlawful, and later on would be unconstitutional. This principle is known as "taxation without representation." The colonies did not have anyone representing them in the Parliament. Therefore, any taxes or laws pertaining to the colonies were considered an overreach of power by Britain.